Maria Martinez / Pinch Pots

Mini Biography

Maria Martinez was born in 1881 in New Mexico in a Native American Pueblo community. Her aunt taught her the ancient tradition of making pottery and she continued to make it even though it wasn’t needed as much because people were starting to use tin and porcelain.

Martinez collected clay from special places in the mountain that the Native American’s considered sacred. She mixed the clay with water and volcanic ash. She made pots by pinching, coiling, and smoothing them. She would fire or cook them in a fire pit so they would become hard. She collected a lot of old pots as inspiration.

Martinez is most famous for the pots she worked on with her husband and son which were black on black. Designs could be seen because some areas were glossy and others flat.

Martinez became very famous for her work and was invited to the White House where we met the President. She also traveled around demonstrating how to make pots so the skill would not go extinct.

Tie In to Project

Martinez’s pots were started out a lot like bowls and then started to close up. She did not use a pottery wheel like many people do today.

Project

Create a pinch pot. Begin with a ball of clay. Push your thumb into the center. Then pinch up the walls. Turn the piece as you pinch. This will help you to keep an even thickness in the walls of the piece. Gently pat the bottom on a flat surface to create a flat spot on the bottom of the piece. Initial the bottom, dry, fire in a kiln (if available).

Materials

Ball of clay

Variations

Use a letter stamps to put a name on the bottom.

Join a number of pots together with scoring and blending.

Decorate the pots with a handle, stamps tools, lid etc.

Glaze after being fired.

(A photo of pinch pots made by me will come later. The current one is borrowed from Terra studios.)